


Dream of Better Things

by happyanpan



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Pre-Fall of Overwatch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 07:06:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14231913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyanpan/pseuds/happyanpan
Summary: After a stressful day doing damage control after a mission gone wrong, Ana finds comfort in Moira as she questions her future in Overwatch.





	Dream of Better Things

It was one of those days Ana wondered if she should simply sell her apartment and start living in her office. Working overtime had become a routine, and at this point her apartment didn’t feel like much of a home. These days at least one mission seemed to go wrong one way or another every day, and Ana and Jack would stay at the base doing damage control until the late hours of the evening.

At least nowadays the overtime came without the guilt of having to call Sam to let him know she didn’t know when she’d make it home. Being kind – often _too_ kind – Sam had never complained, but it hadn’t been unclear that Ana’s absence in their last years together had been a major reason for their eventual divorce. Now with Fareeha having enlisted to the army in Egypt, there was no one at home for Ana to apologize to.

There was never a time someone wasn’t on duty at the Swiss base, but in the evenings the halls became quiet and there was luckily no debating if taking the stairs or waiting for one of the elevators would be the faster choice. Ana entered the elevator, leaning against the back wall as the door closed in front of her. Her reflection stared back at her from the metal surface. Every time she passed a mirror there seemed to be another gray hair and another wrinkle. She looked as tired as she felt, and she had begun to wonder how long she would still be able to do this job.

But despite her weariness and the increasing hardships of the job, she still had people to protect.

“ _Arriving at Research Level 3_.”

Athena’s voice interrupted Ana from her thoughts. The elevator door slid open, revealing Moira who was frowning down at her holo like it had personally offended her.

Ana couldn't help but laugh. “Do you need me to hold the door, so you can keep glaring at your holo?”

Moira looked further peeved by the comment as she looked up, but her expression softened when she saw Ana. “Ana, you're still here.”

“Just about to leave,” Ana said. Putting away her holo, Moira stepped in to the elevator and came to stand next to Ana, leaning on the shorter woman slightly. Ana smiled at the contact. “The post-mission work for the Ankara mission took longer than expected.”

“I heard it got messy,” Moira said with a nod.

“Everything is a mess right now,” Ana said with a sigh before looking back up at Moira. “What are you still doing here?”

“There was a sample I had promised to create for a weapon project, and I suppose I lost the of track time,” Moira said.

Ana smiled knowingly. “Again.”

“Again,” Moira admitted, a small smile appearing on her face as well. “Will you be heading home?”

“That was the plan,” Ana said.  “Unless you have a better suggestion.”

Moira’s smile widened into a cheeky grin. _Bingo._ “My flat _is_ closer.”

The offer sounded good – it always did – but the damage control after the mission in Ankara was particularly difficult because of Overwatch’s previous mishaps in Turkey, and Ana was beat, not to mention dejected after loss of four of their agents.

“As good as that sounds, it's been a long day. I really do want to get some sleep tonight,” Ana said.

Moira’s expression softened. “And as I said, my flat is closer.”

Ana considered it. She and Moira hadn’t gotten to spend as much time together lately with their jobs keeping them both busy, but even the small moments they managed to share made the weight of the world feel a little lighter. With Moira there was no need for guilt of how little they saw each other with both understanding the demands of the job.

“Just some tea and then we go to bed. To _sleep,_ ” Ana finally said.

Moira chuckled, leaning down to press kiss on Ana’s forehead. “Understood, ma'am.”

“ _Arriving at Engineering Level 2.”_

Athena’s voice made Moira straighten up and step away from Ana when the door slid open. The loss of contact was disappointing, but not a surprise: they had been keeping their relationship to themselves, and Moira seemed especially uncomfortable to let anyone have even a reason to suspect there could be something between them.

Ana greeted the two agents coming in, engaging in a pleasant chat with them while Moira took out her holo, staying silent the rest of the way down.

 

“Well, hello there!” Ana said and kneeled to greet the excited Dobermann waiting for them at the doorway of Moira's apartment. After receiving a few pats and a rub behind the ears, the dog left the narrow hallway.

“Hello, Ziggy, your owner is here as well,” Moira said dryly after the dog as Ana stood up to take off her coat. “He completely ignores me every time you come over.”

“Then my long-term plan to steal your dog is working,” Ana said. Moira narrowed her eyes at Ana who smiled at her innocently.

“Oh, so that's what this all is. You don't care about me, you just want Ziggy,” Moira said with mock offense.

“You're only figuring that out now?” Ana asked. Moira scoffed and shook her head, but there was a smile on her face. She turned to grab a leash from top of the hat rack.

“I need to take Ziggy out. Could you wet the tea in the meantime?” Moira asked.

“Of course,” Ana said.

As Moira and Ziggy left the apartment, Ana headed past the kitchen to the living room. She went to the rabbit cage situated next to a door to the balcony, and let out Moira’s rabbit, Wilde, out of his cage. The rabbit immediately dashed out and disappeared under the couch, not sharing Ziggy’s excitement for Ana.

Even if she found it quite endearing now, Moira’s fondness of animals had surprised Ana at first. With Moira’s way of appearing aloof if not a little mean spirited to people she wasn’t close to, Ana had originally thought Moira having pets was a joke between Moira and Gabriel. “Why would I joke about owning pets?” Moira had asked, offended, and not being able to come up with a proper answer Ana had vaguely gestured all of Moira which had only further offended the other woman.

The beginning of their relationship had been a long series of misunderstandings and unintentionally – and occasionally not so unintentionally – stepping on each other’s toes. But after a few joined missions, and projects over the years had led to friendship – and later something more – every day had been a happy surprise as they learned how wrong they had been about one another.

Ana left the living room and went to the kitchen. She took out two mugs from one of the cabinets, the usual plain blue for herself and for Moira a mug saying, “An apple a day keeps anyone away if thrown hard enough”, with the word ‘apple’ having been overlined with a permanent marker, and the word ‘orb’ having been written over the original word – a Christmas present from Gabriel to Moira. Gabriel had played a part in Ana and Moira becoming friends as well, often inviting Moira to the get-togethers of Overwatch and Blackwatch to get Moira out of the lab every now and then. Ana had a feeling at least Gabriel was able to suspect what was between Ana and Moira even if no one else did.

Ana picked up the thermo pot to fill it with water and was happy to notice the tea bags were still on the countertop where Ana had left them last time rather than up the shelf where Moira usually placed them, but that Ana couldn’t reach without a chair. Maybe complaining she was too old to be constantly climbing on chairs just to get some tea had finally done the trick even if they both knew there was no truth to the claim.

After putting the pot back in its place and leaving the water to boil, Ana spotted an open envelope on the counter with a photograph placed on top of it. At the same time she heard Moira come in.

“I let Wilde out,” Ana said once Moira entered the kitchen.

“Does your plan involve stealing him, too?” Moira asked, coming behind Ana and wrapping her arms around Ana’s waist.

“That's right,” Ana said, leaning into the embrace. Pointing at the photograph of a smiling girl with redhair on the countertop, Ana asked: “Is that your niece?”

 “Yes. She just turned 18,” Moira said, leaning her head against Ana’s shoulder. Ana reached back to caress Moira’s short hair.

“She looks so grown up compared to the last picture you've shown me.”

“I think the last photo I had of Emily was from when she was 14,” Moira said with a sigh. “We haven't been in touch too much since I moved to Switzerland.”

“You sound a little homesick,” Ana noted.

“If I can do my work, it doesn't matter where I am.”

Moira didn’t talk much about her family, only having said her relationship with her sister’s family – the only family she had left – was complicated. Moira had no trouble burning bridges, but whatever the situation with her sister was, she seemed conflicted about it, and Ana would occasionally try to get her to at least open about it. If it was something that could still be fixed, it was worth at least trying. But perhaps that was hypocritical of Ana to say: she had given up on trying to fix her marriage, and these days her talks with Fareeha always seemed to end up in them arguing about Fareeha wanting to join Overwatch. Ana had chosen her path to keep the ones she loved safe, but that path had its sacrifices both on the job and outside of it.

Ana hoped what she had with Moira wouldn’t end with another sacrifice.

“And being here has its perks,” Moira added when Ana hadn’t replied.

Grinning, Ana turned around in Moira’s arm and wrapped her arms around Moira’s neck. “Like getting to spent time with your charming captain?”

“I was about to say, ‘good sex', but if you like,” Moira said with a hint of a smirk on her lips. Ana raised an eyebrow and leaned back slightly

“Is that any way to talk to your superiors?” Ana asked.

“What are you going to do about it?” Moira challenged. Ana wasn’t one to back away from a challenge and tiptoed to close the distance between them. Moira sighed into the kiss and backed Ana against the countertop.

Hearing the thermo pot click, Ana pulled away, putting her finger on Moira’s lips before Moira could lean in for another kiss. “Tea.”

“Spoil-sport,” Moira said accusingly but let go of Ana to allow her to pour the hot water into their mugs in which Ana had already placed the teabags earlier.

“I told you I'm only here to borrow your bed tonight,” Ana said as she handed Moira her mug.

“You want my pets and my bed, but what do I get?” Moira asked as they headed to the living room.

“My amazing company of course.”

Moira rolled her eyes. “Of course.”

“Are you complaining?” Ana asked.

“No,” Moira said, pulling Ana close once again with her free hand and pressed a kiss on Ana’s hair. “It's a fine deal.”

They settled down their mugs on the living room table and sat next to each on the couch with Ana moving her legs on Moira’s lap as Moira grabbed a blanket to cover the both of them before wrapping her other arm around Ana’s shoulders. Ziggy came to them, and Ana rubbed him from behind the ears. Accepting Moira’s offer had been a much better idea than going to her own empty apartment.

“So, what happened in Ankara?” Moira asked once they had gotten comfortable.

Ana sighed and rested her head against Moira’s shoulder when Ziggy left to lie down on his mattress at the corner of the room. “Four agents dead and two civilians casualties.”

“Talon again?”

“Who else?” Ana asked. “They have become even more aggressive after what they did to Gérard.” Ana paused.  Losing Gérard has been a tough blow for Overwatch in the fight against Talon, but that was nothing compared to losing yet another friend. The people she worked with were like family to Ana, and she had sworn to protect them, but lately she hadn’t been able to keep that promise. And Gerárd wasn’t the only one lost that day. “I keep thinking about poor Amélie.”

“Has there been any new clues to her whereabouts?” Moira asked, running her hand through Ana’s hair.

“Nothing,” Ana said, weary. What could Talon gain from kidnapping Amélie now? “We can only hope she’s still alive.”

Moira said nothing, instead reaching for her mug from the table. Ana followed the suit and took a sip from her own mug before saying: “We should be focusing all our efforts on stopping Talon but with the media making us out to be almost as bad as the people we're fighting against, we are wasting so much time on just trying to keep our reputation.”

“The media shouldn’t dictate how we do our work,” Moira said.

“Well, frankly the messes Blackwatch keep getting into aren't helping one bit,” Ana said, regretting it immediately when she felt Moira go still. “I'm sorry. That's not on you.”

“Don't apologize. I understand,” Moira said. Ana looked up at Moira, who wouldn’t face her. Many of Blackwatch’s actions remained classified even to Ana, so they could rarely talk about what Moira did, but something had felt off ever since the mission in Venice. Ana supposed she would hear about it only if Jack saw it fit to answer the inquiries of the Italian government about what had happened. Why Jack kept coming up with excuses not do so was beyond Ana, and only made her worry more.

“There's just been so many losses lately,” Ana said. “I'm tired of losing good people.”

“I know,” Moira said quietly.

“Sometimes I'm glad you don't go on the field much,” Ana said, making Moira finally look at her. “I don’t like having to worry about you out there.”

Moira eyes widened, and she turned her gaze from Ana to the mug in her hand. She had never been good at reacting to Ana’s concern but the small smile on her lips told Ana she appreciated it nonetheless.

“There's always the threat of the media nightmare it would cause if any outsider found out I work for Overwatch,” Moira said.

Ana groaned, and leaned back against Moira’s shoulder. “As if this job wasn't hard enough without having to worry about them _all_ the time”

“Every powerful organization needs its watchdogs.”

“I understand that. But you can't say the framing has been exactly fair lately.”

“Would you like my honest opinion?” Moira asked dryly. Ana only sighed. Moira had never bothered making an effort to hide her distaste for Overwatch even after Gabriel had hired her. The bitterness of Overwatch nearly destroying her career had never truly faded. Ana understood Moira’s resentment, but it was a subject they made a conscious effort to avoid, knowing it would only lead to a fight.

“I know what you think,” Ana said. “I don't want to have an argument today.”

“Neither do I,” Moira agreed.

Changing the subject, Ana said: “If there’s one person who doesn't seem to care about what the media is saying, it's Fareeha. She’s been at it again trying to warm me up to the idea of her joining Overwatch.” Ana couldn't claim to have been happy about Fareeha enlisting, but she had hoped the job for Helix security she had landed recently would take her interest away from Overwatch at the very least. But Fareeha was stubborn; she was an Amari after all.

Ana huffed. “I just hope my days off in Egypt won't be just us two arguing.”

“You're going to Egypt? When?” Moira asked.

“Ah, I haven't had the chance to mention it to you. I have a mission in Cairo in two days,” Ana said. Talon had managed to surprise them so many times lately, but if everything went according to plan, it would be Talon that was in for a surprise this time. Hopefully they could finally get some payback for everything that Talon had done. However, Ana couldn’t go into the mission details with Moira, so she continued: “I thought I'd stay a couple of days once the mission is over.”

“That sounds nice. Sounds like you could use time off,” Moira said.

“Let's see if we'll survive the mission first.”

Moira scoffed. “You always say that, but you always come back without barely a bruise.”

“Overconfidence will only get you killed in this line of work.” Ana pointedly reminded Moira. Moira may have worked as a medic on the field but based on what little Gabriel had told Ana of Moira’s field work, she could also get a little too involved in the fight despite having no prior combat experience until joining Blackwatch. “And this time is different. I can't go to the details but it's not exactly a routine mission. Jack is leading the mission himself.”

Moira frowned. She took a sip of her tea before asking: “The science department has a small base in Cairo, don’t they?”

“Which you shouldn’t be aware of,” Ana noted. “I hope Gabriel isn’t involving Blackwatch into something he shouldn’t.”

“Of course not.”

“Convincing,” Ana said humorlessly, and Moira gave her a cheeky grin. Ana shook her head and kissed Moira’s cheek. For a moment they fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the tea and each other’s warmth.

“So, how was _your_ day? Any scientific breakthroughs?” Ana asked after a while.

“I'm afraid not. I spent most of the day working on the sample I mentioned earlier,” Moira said. She took one last sip of her tea before setting down the mug back on the table. She wrapped her now free arm around Ana's waist.  “I did also attend the biweekly meeting of research departments which was quite interesting until Doctor Ziegler decided to preach morals at everyone. _Again._ ”

Ana couldn't help but at laugh at Moira’s exasperated tone. “It wouldn't do you any harm to actually listen to one of those ‘preaches.’”

“You're well aware how disinterested I am in Doctor Ziegler's _limited_ views,” Moira said.

Ana shook her head but was still smiling. Ana _was_ well aware, having ended up as the middleman in Moira and Angela’s still on-going fight because of their differences right from the start. Moira’s lack of patience for being told how to do her research had earned Ana quickly a place on Moira’s bad side because of it. As far as Ana knew, it wasn’t every day Moira forgave someone, so Ana considered herself lucky for what they had now.

“As long as you don't use all the research money we give you to start a global crisis,” Ana said.

“The media would love that,” Moira replied.

Ana had been about to take a sip of her tea but lowered her mug after Moira's words. “Somehow the global crisis sounds less threatening to me than the media reaction to us having a part in causing it.”

“Then I will do my best to keep any possible crisis inside the base where the media won't learn about it,” Moira said teasingly.

Ana finished her tea and put the mug aside. She turned to wrap her arms around Moira’s neck. “I should hope so or I'm giving Angela a raise just to have her preach morals at you every day.”

Moira grimaced. “You wouldn't be so cruel.”

“Wouldn't I?” Ana asked, giving Moira a soft kiss to her jaw. Moira scoffed, but leaned down to kiss Ana. Ana inhaled and let out a satisfied sigh when they pulled apart, smiling at each other fondly. Ana pecked Moira on the cheek one last time before letting go of Moira and moving her legs off Moira’s lap to get off the couch. “I'm going to borrow one of your shirts.”

“’Borrow’ she says,” Moira said, not getting up just yet. “Where are the last shirts you _borrowed_?”

Ana walked around the couch on her way to the bedroom but stopped to kiss Moira’s hair. “Don't try to pretend you don't like when I wear them.”

“Well, you're not wrong,” Moira said before getting up as well. “Didn’t you say you left Wilde out?”

“He went under the couch,” Ana said, already walking in the bedroom to Moira’s closet. How Moira knew Ana had taken a couple of her shirts was a miracle with how many dress shirts she owned.

“ _He’s not under the couch,_ ” Moira called from the living room. Ana sighed, but couldn’t help smiling. It wasn’t the first and likely not the last time they had lost Wilde just before going to bed. It was starting to become yet another routine they had together that Ana was becoming strangely fond of. Being with Moira was starting to feel like _home_.

“Let me change and I’ll help you look.”

 

Wilde was eventually found from among shoes at the doorway. With the rabbit returned to his cage and Ziggy already dozing off in the living room, Ana and Moira got ready for bed. The two huddled up in Moira’s bed with Ana laying down against Moira’s chest and wrapping her arms around Moira’s waist – something Moira had claimed was inconvenient because she couldn’t get out of Ana’s “death grip” if she tried to leave the bed before Ana had woken up, but in Ana’s opinion Moira had no right to complain: she was just as bad.

“You're always so cold,” Ana said, when Moira wrapped her arms around Ana  as well and slipped one hand under Ana’s shirt.

“How convenient that you are here to warm me up then,” Moira said and kissed the top of Ana’s head. Ana hummed as a way of response. They lied together in silence, and Ana wondered if Moira was already falling asleep despite light on the nightstand still being on.

“Moira,” Ana started softly, still having something she wished to talk about. She wasn’t sure they would have time to be together again before Ana left for Egypt.

A quiet “Hm?” was Moira’s only answer.

“I want to tell Fareeha about us while I'm in Egypt.”

Moira didn’t say anything for a moment, and Ana wondered if Moira was already asleep after all. She could stay up until the early hours of the morning easily, but once she hit the bed Moira would be asleep within minutes.

“Us,” Moira repeated eventually. Ana couldn't place her tone, so she propped herself up on her elbows to have a look at Moira’s expression. Moira was frowning at the ceiling and Ana’s heart sank a little. Moira wasn’t one to talk openly about her feelings, but Ana had _assumed_ they were on the same page about what they meant to each other. Maybe she had been wrong.

“Yes. Our relationship,” Ana confirmed when Moira didn’t say anything more.

Moira glanced at Ana but averted her eyes to look back at the ceiling. “I see.”

“Unless you have something against it,” Ana continued to encourage Moira to say what was wrong.

“No,” Moira said quickly. “It's just unexpected.”

“We have been doing this for quite a while,” Ana said. It had been almost a year now since they had first ended up sharing a bed after a night out with Gabriel and Jack. Neither had had much to drink, but enough for Moira to finally make the first move after a couple of months of what neither of them had been sure had been flirting between them but had hoped it to be.

“You have never shown any interest in telling someone before,” Moira said and finally turned to look at Ana. She still had a frown on her face.

“Neither have you,” Ana noted.

“I didn't think _you_ would want to,” Moira challenged.

The answer surprised Ana. It was true they hadn’t talked about this before, but Ana hadn’t expected _that_ to be the reason. “Why wouldn't I?”

“The circumstances of my employment aren't exactly ideal,” Moira said, bitterness in her voice, averting her eyes again.

Ana scoffed. “Do you really think I care about something like that?”

“You _are_ very concerned about the media and alike,” Moira said pointedly.

“My private life isn't their business nor is it the business of anyone else,” Ana said. Ana cupped Moira’s face to get her to look at her again. “We don't have to go around shouting it in the hallways if you don’t want to, but I don't see why we shouldn't tell people close to us. I _want_ to.”

Moira looked thoughtful as she studied Ana's face. Eventually the frown on her face was replaced by a faint smile. Moira took hold of Ana’s hand that Ana had had on her cheek and kissed the inner palm. “I suppose we could do that.”

Ana let out a relieved sigh and smiled. “Good. Because I'm tired of hiding this.”

Moira stared at Ana for a moment before leaning up to cup Ana's face to kiss her. Ana deepened the kiss, and when Moira parted her lips Ana took the chance to slip her tongue into Moira's mouth. Moira responded with a moan and pulled away, smiling widely.

“I know you said you only wanted to sleep, but –” Moira started, and Ana chuckled.

“Maybe you can change my mind,” Ana said. Moira smirked, and wasted no time flipping their positions around so she was on top of Ana, earning Ana a surprised yelp that quickly turned into a fond laugh as Moira leaned down to kiss her again.

Ana didn't know how long Overwatch had left.  She didn't know if she could give much more of herself to the organization. After so many years it was difficult imagine a life without Overwatch, but in the end, it was the people that had become her family that she didn't want to lose, and moments spent with them – moments like this one – that she couldn’t imagine her life without. Ana had made many sacrifices for Overwatch, but perhaps it was the time to make sure the people she loved would remain by her side even after Overwatch was gone.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! There may not be many of us but I hope you fellow AnaMoira fans enjoyed this fic, and I hope to write more of this ship in the future!
> 
> Twitter: happyanpan  
> Tumblr: oliviac0lomar


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